Surrealistic Pillow

Surrealistic Pillow is an album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in February 1967. Original drummer Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band in mid-1966, replaced by a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, Spencer Dryden. Singer Signe Toly Anderson departed soon after, and by the Fall of 1966 the group hired new singer Grace Slick, who brought from her previous band The Great Society the two songs that would become the Airplane's biggest Top 40 hits, "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", the latter composed by her then-brother-in-law. Both Slick and Dryden debuted with the band on records with this album and its attendant singles, thus completing the best-known line-up of the group, which would remain stable until Dryden's departure in 1970. It's also considered to be one of the quintessential albums of the counterculture movement/social revolution.

Jefferson Airplane's fusion of folk rock and psychedelia was original at the time, in line with musical developments pioneered by The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, and Bob Dylan. Surrealistic Pillow was the first blockbuster psychedelic album by a band from San Francisco, announcing to the world the active bohemian scene that had developed there starting with The Beats during the 1950s, extending and changing through the 1960s into the Haight-Ashbury counterculture. Subsequently, the exposure generated by the Airplane and others wrought great changes to that counterculture, and by 1968 the ensuing national media attention had precipitated a very different San Francisco scene than had existed in 1966. San Francisco photographer, Herb Greene photographed the band for the album's cover art.

Some controversy exists as to the role of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia in the making of the album. His reputed presence on several tracks is not corroborated by RCA paperwork and is denied by producer Rick Jarrard. But when performing "Comin' Back to Me" live with Jefferson Starship, Marty Balin almost always introduced the song with a reference to the Surrealistic Pillow sessions, mentioning Garcia as playing the guitar parts on the original studio version.

Surrealistic Pillow was originally released as RCA Victor LPM/LSP 3766, and peaked at #3 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, driven by "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love," which peaked at #8 and #5 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album was mixed in both mono and stereo, and both mixes are available on a November 2001 reissue, initially as part of the Ignition box set; another stereo reissue appeared on August 19, 2003, with seven bonus tracks, including the mono A-sides of "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." The 2003 reissue was produced by Bob Irwin.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 146 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

Track listing

Side one

1. "She Has Funny Cars" (Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen) – 3:03
2. "Somebody to Love" (Darby, Slick) – 2:54
3. "My Best Friend" (Skip Spence) – 2:59
4. "Today" (Balin, Paul Kantner) – 2:57
5. "Comin' Back to Me" (Balin) – 5:18

Side two

1. "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" (Balin) – 3:39
2. "D.C.B.A. -25" (Kantner) – 2:33
3. "How Do You Feel" (Tom Mastin) – 3:26
4. "Embryonic Journey" (Kaukonen) – 1:51
5. "White Rabbit" (Grace Slick) – 2:27
6. "Plastic Fantastic Lover" (Balin)'' – 2:33

2003 CD reissue Bonus Tracks

1. "In the Morning" (Kaukonen) – 6:21
2. "J.P.P. McStep B. Blues" (Spence) – 2:37
3. "Go To Her (version two)" (Kantner, Irving Estes) – 4:02
4. "Come Back Baby" (trad. arranged Kaukonen) – 2:56
5. "Somebody to Love" (mono Single mix) (G. Slick) – 2:58
6. "White Rabbit" (mono Single mix) (G. Slick) – 2:31
7. "D.C.B.A. -25" (Kantner) (instrumental - hidden track) – 2:39

The gold CD edition of the album features both the mono and stereo versions of the album on the same disc.

Alternate track listing

1. "She Has Funny Cars" (Balin, Kaukonen)
2. "Comin' Back to Me" (Balin)
3. "Somebody to Love" (Slick, Slick) (credited to G. Slick only in later reissues)
4. "My Best Friend" (Spence)
5. "D.C.B.A. 25" (Kantner)
6. "Today" (Balin/Kantner)
7. "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" (Balin)
8. "Embryonic Journey" (Kaukonen)
9. "How Do You Feel" (Mastin)
10. "White Rabbit" (Slick)
11. "Plastic Fantastic Lover" (Balin)

On some cassette versions, the transfer of "My Best Friend" runs noticeably slow, putting the song in the key of D-flat (instead of D).

Personnel

• Marty Balin - Vocals, Guitar
• Grace Slick - Vocals, Piano, Organ, Recorder
• Paul Kantner - Rhythm guitar, Vocals
• Jorma Kaukonen - Lead guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
• Jack Casady - Bass, Fuzz Bass, Rhythm Guitar
• Spencer Dryden - Drums, Percussion

Additional personnel

• Jerry Garcia, musical and spiritual adviser, guitars

Production

• Rick Jarrard – producer
• David Hassinger – engineer
• Recorded in RCA Victor's Music Center of the World, Hollywood California
• Marty Balin – album design
• Herb Green – album photography

See also

• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Charts

Certifications